Abstract This chapter examines the relationship between delusions and conspiracy theories through the lens of hinge epistemology. While delusions may be understood as irrational acceptances that conflict with de facto or de jure hinges, conspiracy beliefs—such as flat-earth or COVID-19 anti-vaccination theories—share certain features with delusions, including steadfastness in the face of...
This study aims to describe the experiences of a Polish mystic who lived in the 19th and late 20th centuries, based on her writings. Through research involving comparisons, analyses, and a synthesis of her revelations, it has been possible to identify and highlight the diversity of Blessed Marcelina Darowska’s (1827–1911) inner life and achievements, which place her among contemplative and...
Mystical language, unlike scientific language, which is based on logical reasoning and conceptual clarity, is rich in metaphors whose primary function is to express ineffable spiritual experiences. The central concern of this study is how classical metaphors operate as cognitive tools in Iranian–Islamic mystical texts, rendering transcendent experiences intelligible to the reader. The aim of...
Salta al contenuto principale Byzantine Studies Collana | Byzantine Studies Miscellanea | Holy Mountain(s) in Byzantium and Beyond Capitolo | Holy mountains of the Byzantine East and mystical experience (ninth-fourteenth c.) Holy mountains of the Byzantine East and mystical experience (ninth-fourteenth c.) + Stephanos Euthymiadis Stephanos Euthymiadis - Open University of Cyprus - email open...
Abstract Background and Aims Music has been associated with psychedelic experiences throughout human history, from ancient shamanic healing rituals to contemporary psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT), and is considered integral for positive therapeutic outcomes. Yet optimized protocols and best practice standards for the use of music in PAT are lacking. Methods This interdisciplinary literature...
This article describes St. Paul’s powerful experience on the road to Damascus using thephilosophy of mysticism by Maurice Blondel. While the experience is often simplifiedas a conversion, the study posits that it is more accurately described as a revelation anda prophetic calling. Using Blondel’s non-reductionist approach, which focuses on livedexperience as well as action, this article...
For English, the validated part of Psychedelic Experience Scale (PES48) is a four-factor structure called the Mystical Experience Questionnaire (MEQ30). The other validated part of the PES48 consists of four more factors: two more mystical factors (paradoxicality and connectedness, which together with the MEQ30 form the MEQ40), and two more non-mystical factors (visual experience and...
This paper offers a theoretical re-situating of extreme experiences in response to Dominik Mihalits' (2025) multidimensional model. While acknowledging the value of Mihalits' effort to de-pathologize extreme experiences, it is argued that many of the phenomena he seeks to conceptualize have long been addressed within earlier traditions of psychological and existential thought. Drawing on Karl...
Abstract Paradoxically, psychedelics have long been used as models of both psychosis and therapy. After proposing mystical experiences as a link between these models for lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), we aimed to extend and refine this framework for N,N -Dimethyltryptamine (DMT). In a randomised, placebo-controlled, double-blind, crossover study, 25 healthy participants received DMT (60mg)...
According to William James, mystical states of consciousness are characterized, among other features, by their noetic quality, i. e., some knowledge obtained is through them. However, another common feature of mystical experiences is their ineffability. This raises an epistemological question: How can something be known, and yet cannot be expressed? Through the conceptual framework of Ludwig...
Background: Spiritual and psychotic experiences share overlapping phenomenology, often making clinical differentiation challenging. The growing use of advanced meditation and psychedelics has further blurred this boundary. Methods: A retrospective case series was conducted at the Department of Integrative Medicine,of a tertiary care mental health facility in India. Four individuals presenting...
This study reinterprets Das Peter Hille-Buch through the theoretical framework of genre hybridity and the poetics of mysticism, arguing that the work’s difficulty constitutes a deliberate aesthetic strategy rather than a formal weakness. The analysis focuses on the narrative structure in which biography, autobiography, religious discourse, and prose poetry are intricately interwoven, creating a...
Objectives: For English, the validated part of Psychedelic Experience Scale (PES48) is a four-factor structure called the Mystical Experience Questionnaire (MEQ30). The other validated part of the PES48 consists of four more factors: two more mystical factors (paradoxicality and connectedness, which together with the MEQ30 form the MEQ40), and two more non-mystical factors (visual experience...
Behavioral SciencesApril 30, 2026Dylan Briggs, Thomas B Sease, Ruthie Menou et al.
Mystical experiences are characterized by a profound sense of interconnectedness and transcendence of ordinary reality. These experiences can facilitate feelings of connectedness with oneself and others and have been documented as leading to significant positive changes in thoughts, emotions, and behavior. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the extent to which the four mindfulness...
Emerging evidence suggests psychedelic-assisted therapies ameliorate symptoms of psychopathology. However, less is known about how psychedelics influence positive psychological functioning (e.g., compassionate love, self-compassion, and life satisfaction). These constructs may be relevant in understanding how psychedelics exert their therapeutic effects, as they are central to both intra- and...
Scholars of religion have had a long-standing interest in the study of mystical experiences (Schmidt, 2003), dating back to the work of William James (James, 1902). James listed ineffability, noeti...
Anton Boisen (1876-1965) was a pioneering figure in the psychology of religion and pastoral psychology, yet scholars have largely overlooked his most important theoretical contributions. His unique corpus emerged from his own experience of psychosis in 1920 and his subsequent incarceration in the psychiatric system. I argued in an earlier article that Boisen was a prophet, ahead of his time,...
medRxiv Preprint ServerMarch 31, 2026Maia Mallevays, Louise Fuet, Michel Danon et al.1 citation
preprint
Esketamine is a fast-acting antidepressant drug which induces acute psychoactive effects. The most frequent is a dissociative state which seems unrelated to therapeutic efficacy. Other esketamine-induced effects, including psychedelic-like mystical experiences, have been poorly studied in terms of phenomenology and frequency, and may carry specific therapeutic relevance. In this study, we...
This article examines how religious experience is articulated through genre in the poetry of the seventeenth-century Ottoman Mawlawī shaykh Neshāṭī (d. 1674), focusing on the striking contrast between his ghazals and non-ghazal compositions. While Neshāṭī’s qaṣīdas, mathnawīs and other formal genres employ an explicit and direct religious language—addressing God, the Prophet, sacred figures,...
“And while my whole heart and all my desires were engrossed in prayer and heavenly things, suddenly, I know not how, I felt within a symphony of song, and I overheard a most delightful heavenly harmony, which remained in my mind. For straightway, while I meditated, my thoughts were turned into melody of song, and for meditation J, as it were, sang songs. And that music voiced itself even in my...